Saul Bellow and the Role of the Intellectual in 20th Century Society

As contemporary readers constantly “lower the bar”, writers tend to follow the same trend, thus creating a vicious circle. Their novels become more and more “unintellectual” in order to appeal to the common man. And this happens not as much because the writers wish to remain loyal to their readers as it happens out of fear of rejection. The role of the modern writer is therefore to resist the temptation of writing for the masses and to assume the higher responsibility of forcing the masses out of their ignorance, of reorienting the self towards knowledge, exchange of ideas in order to create the ability to filter what an impure society might confront us with. The evolution from rights to liberty and from liberty to openness needs to be constantly adjusted and only the intellectuals can alert his fellow citizens of the danger behind the famous statement “the right to the pursuit of happiness”: that of transforming oneself into a simple consumer, getting satisfaction from a fake reality, a simulacra, complacent about himself/herself and always willing to choose the easiest way around. Most modern readers simply do not take the challenge, they just wish to be entertained. But entertainment without intellectual effort creates not a reality, but an illusion and Bellow is aware of the growing need for illusion of the contemporary society: “A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep”; “You could see the suicidal impulses pushing strongly. You wondered whether this Western culture could survive universal dissemination – whether only its science and technology or administrative practices would travel, be adopted by other societies”. (Bellow, Sammler…, p. 34).